Facebook: The encyclopedia of beauty? - CNN: "Because of social networks, though, the field of competition has expanded dramatically. Now you're competing with the best pictures and the ebullient status updates of every girl you know.
"It's as if somewhere along the line, Facebook became the encyclopedia of beauty and status and comparisons."
It didn't stop there. Among some of Coleman's girls, the constant self-comparisons and escalating insecurities translated into a pattern of food deprivation and incessant exercise.
"They were walking around saying, 'I'm not good enough. I'm not enough this or that.' And I guess what they had the most control over was their weight."
That's when the other, more pernicious social networks came into the picture. Some of the girls in Coleman's sorority began frequenting pro-eating-disorder communities online, where users encourage one another in anorexic and bulimic behavior. Most of these sites, open to all, offer "thinspiration" (or "thinspo") -- photographs of emaciated celebrities and models, and before-and-after shots of girls-next-door, meant to serve as motivation on the quest for skin and bones."
'via Blog this'
"It's as if somewhere along the line, Facebook became the encyclopedia of beauty and status and comparisons."
It didn't stop there. Among some of Coleman's girls, the constant self-comparisons and escalating insecurities translated into a pattern of food deprivation and incessant exercise.
"They were walking around saying, 'I'm not good enough. I'm not enough this or that.' And I guess what they had the most control over was their weight."
That's when the other, more pernicious social networks came into the picture. Some of the girls in Coleman's sorority began frequenting pro-eating-disorder communities online, where users encourage one another in anorexic and bulimic behavior. Most of these sites, open to all, offer "thinspiration" (or "thinspo") -- photographs of emaciated celebrities and models, and before-and-after shots of girls-next-door, meant to serve as motivation on the quest for skin and bones."
'via Blog this'
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